EDIT:
It's a little 'wordy' for the first few responses, update on post #13

Right, I get it....LSx, 350, TPI sucks, 305 boat anchor....blah, blah, blah.


Sorry, you are not going to convince me to get rid of the factory block that came in my car, plain and simple. I won't go into details regarding my stance on that issue, as it would take a whole lot of typing. If you came here to bash on another 305 build just click the back button now.

Ok, now that is out of the way, I am going to build my 305. After 7+ years of 'life', I can finally finish this project I started just after I graduated high school.

My goal is to create a car that will primarily serve weekend warrior/AutoX/road trip duties for me and the wife. Obviously the main reason I am in this section is regarding the addition of a turbocharger to my bone stock LB9. I do not want or need a strip queen, so gobs of power is not necessary, however I would like in the neighborhood of 300-350 WHP.

I have $3,700 currently to use on getting my engine built and running during the this winter.

Rotating Assemby- Forged pistons? Dished? I have read the stock rods and crank are good for 10-15 PSI reliably, correct? Or should I bite the bullet and go forged there as well?

Cylinder Heads- TFS 175's for two reasons: Weight reduction, and improved airflow in and out of the cylinders. Good idea or save my money?

Intake manifold- Aftermarket lower? Ported stocker? High flow runners will be a must, but I plan on staying stock plenum, possibly go with a bigger TB?

FMU- Boost referenced regulator? Speed density conversion? Full on stand alone? Obviously bigger injectors and a Walbro 255 will be installed.

Cam- I have no idea here.

Turbo- Going with a single remote mount(! [I know, I am just a glutton for punishment]), what size?

Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I will do my best to answer and reply ASAP, also this thread will not die after one or two posts from me. I am 100% committed to getting this engine running by March of this coming year (at the latest), if I am not driving my T/A this summer I will have let myself down in a way I can't even imagine. And yes, there will be pics!

 

Would definitely suggest going with electronic fuel and spark management. Whether a megasquirt or ebl conversion on a stock ecm, you'll get much better results as opposed to an fmu.

No need to upgrade the stock intake if you're going to turbo it, especially with 305 cubes. This is especially true for the lower side of your goal of 300-350 hp. If you do upgrade the intake you might as well do the heads too. If you do the heads you might as well upgrade the intake some. But the stockers with a mild cam and good springs will do wonders with 12-14 psi!

Any particular reason for rear mount vs front mount? Rear mount adds a lot of liability with the oil return pump, extra lines and will be louder. Your choice though. Either is better than neither!

 

I have enjoyed every minute driving my 305 with 10-12psi. I have run a few new mustangs(shelby) and stayed with him till we hit traffic. My track times were awful because of a slipping clutch but that gives me a project for the winter

Block is completely stock with the peanut cam, intake is a Stealthram, Accel DFI 7. Ebay turbo, wastegate and blow off valve(do not get ebay oil lines!!!)
30# injectors.

I have been thinking about 350 heads this winter also, I had a set but found a crack in the exhaust seat. I plan on pulling the 305 apart this winter to see how it looks, but with a conservative tune you should be fine

my build thread

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/powe...gta-build.html

 

Bandit- Your threads were some of the first ones I stumbled upon when I came back to the boards. I really like the Accel DFI, but its $texas for sure. However should I not upgrade my heads I could probably swing it. Sounds like its really easy to use.

ZZ3- So do you think stock rotating assembly will be ok? Just add forged pistons and go or not even bother with those? If I'm going to blow the rotating assembly apart I might as well have it punched out .030 over, but I still have visible crosshatching on my cylinder walls.

What would you guys think of running stock rotating assembly, new heads, ported lower manifold, SLP runners, and an Accel DFI?

 

With visible cross-hatching left on the cylinder walls, I wouldn't bother boring the engine over. It will essentially do nothing in terms of power, not to mention, you would only be weakening the cylinder's strength to absorb the added stress during quench...

 

If you keep the tune and boost reasonable you could keep the stock rotating assembly. If you go changing pistons and rings you might as well go forged and good rings. You'll spend $1000 pretty quickly with quality components and machine work. Once you get into the bottom end though, you sorta might as well refresh everything else too. Of course that adds up quickly. Therefore, I would lean towards keeping the rotating assembly stock and start collecting parts to build a 350 or 383 down the road

 

Awesome, thanks for the input guys, I really appreciate it.

So I think I've got my final list of parts and plan on getting everything ordered by the end of next week:

-TFS 175 aluminum heads
-Summit K1103 Camshaft and lifter kit (272/282, valve lift is within spec for the springs on the heads)
-Ported lower factory manifold
-SLP or Edelbrock runners (whichever I can get cheaper at the time)
-Ported plenum
-EBL P4 Flash (this will convert my MAF to MAP with minimal modifications, but give me full tunability at a fraction of the cost of the DFI Gen 7, and retain emissions control functions)
-Magnaflow hi-flow cat
-4th Gen rear end (more for better gearing and wheel fitment than strength)

Parts I already have:

-Hooker Shorties, AIR compliant, with 3" y-pipe
-Moroso 6 qt. oil pan, sump baffled
-Fel-Pro engine gasket kit, but may end up using different head gaskets
-Factory SRT-4 Intercooler

Undecided on the turbo size as of yet, but I still have some time before I have to start worrying about that. What I may end up doing is running the engine break in and getting the car running with the EBL before adding the turbo, that way I can get familiar with the tuning software.

Also, I have read that the TFS 175 heads are a great choice for smaller displacement SBCs, but I have also heard of some issues with the 1.94 intake valves not clearing the 305 bore? If this is the case, I may go with the S/R 305 Torquers, as they have the intake valve offset to clear the bore.

 

Parts have been ordered. Heads won't arrive until the second week in December.

I have decided that I will first get the car running and tuned with the EBL P4 before adding the turbo. This will let me get used to tuning the car and ensure that everything is working properly before adding some PSI to it.

Since I am going rear mount, the issue of oil feed and supply was brought up. I have decided to go with a stand alone oil supply, since I will need an electric supply pump, might as well add an oil cooler and separate filter that can be serviced independent of the engine oil. Plus should something go wrong, I can limit the risk of contaminating the engine oil. Along with that, I can easily add a turbo timer to this circuit. Worse case scenario I go with a more traditional oil supply setup.

On a side note, my rear wheels arrived, so now I start the task of finding a 4th Gen rear end. They're C6 replicas that Tire Rack had on mega blowout, so I picked 'em up for $29 a piece. 19x11 baby!

 

yolur intercooler is gonna be to small .the srt's aren't that good .mine would heat soak with a back to bacxk run with only 260 hp

 

Run the numbers for the heat you need to remove from the oil cooler with a stand alone. Too much heat to remove. You need the radiator & coolant helping.......or a giant tank in the trunk.

 

Yeah, after looking a little more they pretty much top out support around 300 HP, so I will be going with something different.

 

I'll go with something like a B&M Trans. cooler with built fan and t-stat. I figure the system will hold around around 2 quarts, and if I can keep the temp around 200* it should be fine.

Again, it's just a thought I had, if for any reason it won't work (not enough heat removal, packaging issues, etc.) then I'll drill and tap my oil pan and use the cooler on the tranny instead.

 

Heads arrived this week, which was a nice unexpected surprise, originally they were slated to get here around the 20th of this month.

At this point, mother nature isn't cooperating and I'm stuck trying to find the will power to go and finish pulling the motor with highs in the low 20's. We are expected to warm up slightly this weekend, so I may thrash and get it done just to get the short block in the house where I can work on it in much more favorable conditions.

Also tossing around the idea of new main and con. rod bearings just for the hell of it, along with some nice ARP bolts for the bottom end.